1 Samuel 8:5

Walk not in thy ways. The elders’ confidence in Samuel was so great that they knew him to be in no way responsible for the wickedness of his sons. It would be better, they reasoned, to take the matter to Samuel for solution than to wait for the confusion that was sure to result after his death, when the sons would likely attempt to assert their own authority.

Make us a king. God had said through Moses that the time would come when the people would ask for a king “like as all the nations” (Deut. 17:14). Perhaps the elders were virtually quoting this text as an excuse for their request. It was evidently God’s plan that Israel should be distinct from surrounding nations, and through the centuries since the Exodus He had accordingly protected and guided them by judges. Had they entered into God’s plan for them, Moses told them, the nations looking on would say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deut. 4:6). Relying on the diplomacy of which the Oriental is capable, they now, in opposition to the will of God and without seeking His counsel, made known their shortsighted decision. At first they stated merely that they wanted a king to judge them after the fashion of the world; but when Samuel tried to warn them of the curse they were about to bring upon themselves, they added a second reason, “that our king, may ... go out before us, and fight our battles” (1 Sam. 8:20). Clarification of the circumstances under which the elders of Israel appealed for a king is given in ch. 12:12: “When ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us.” Josephus confirms the idea that Nahash had been afflicting the Jews beyond Jordan for some time, reducing their cities to slavery and putting out the right eyes of his captives in order that they might be useless in future warfare (Antiquities vi. 5. 1).

Archeological discoveries in both Palestine and Transjordan also point to the fact that in the preceding century all the nations in this district had begun to fortify their cities and to put themselves in a position to resist the hordes of migratory Sea Peoples from the Aegean region (see p. 33), who were advancing against Egypt by both land and sea. Part of this migratory wave moved through Asia Minor, obliterated the Hittites, and then swept on southward through Syria and Palestine toward Egypt. Defeated by Ramses III, some settled in the Philistine plain. Other nations were watching the political horizon with fear and trembling, and it was not strange that the leaders of Israel felt vital concern over the national policy and leadership.

God sought to demonstrate a unique method of coping with international problems, but Israel saw no way out other than to copy the nations about them. For centuries they had been a seminomadic people, living mostly in tents; they had failed to drive the native inhabitants of Canaan from their cities (Judges 1:27-36). Nevertheless, in the years between 1200 and 1050 B.C. they settled increasingly in towns. Now, in perversity of mind they saw nothing to do but to consolidate their government and fortify themselves against the invaders.

Years before, the Ammonites charged Israel with taking their patrimony from them (Judges 11:13-27). That had been in Jephthah’s day, when the 18-year Ammonite oppression was brought to a close. Now, the Ammonites were making their second attempt to regain this territory from Israel.